Blue Volleyball Sweeps Clark For Webb’s 600th Win; Li Records 3,000th Assist

WELLESLEY, Mass. -- Wellesley College volleyball Head Coach Dorothy Webb earned career win number 600 as the Blue swept past Clark, 3-0 (25-14, 28-26, 25-15) in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play on Tuesday at Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse.

Wellesley is now 11-1 overall (5-1 NEWMAC) while Webb, now in her 26th season as the Head Coach of the Blue, has a career mark of 600-227. The Blue have won 20 games or more in 17 of Webb's seasons at the helm of the program and have topped the 30-win plateau four times, including the outstanding 1998 season when Wellesley went 37-1 and reached its first Final Four. The Blue have also captured 11 NEWMAC Championships and made 12 trips to the NCAA Tournament since Webb's first season in 1993.

Wellesley senior setter Michelle Li (Scarsdale, N.Y.) finished the match with 37 assists to lead the Wellesley attack and now has 3,002 in her Wellesley career. Sophomore Lauren Gedney (Huntersville, N.C.) put down a match-high 16 kills and senior Samantha Hoang (Elk Grove, Calif.) tallied 15 digs to lead the Blue.

Clark (9-8 overall, 1-5 NEWMAC) senior Ana Patricia Mercado (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) finished with 10 kills to lead the visitors. Senior libero Rayme Quiban (Seattle, Wash.) tallied 11 digs to lead the Cougars on defense and senior setter Rachel Webb (Celina, Texas) added 19 assists. 

Wellesley opened up a 5-0 lead to start the match, eventually jumping to a 19-10 lead in the opening set. The Blue never trailed, eventually scoring the final point in a 25-14 rout on a kill from first year Nicole Doerges (San Marino, Calif.) to take the first set. Doerges finished the night with 13 kills. 

Clark took a 5-0 lead to start the second set but the Blue quickly erased the deficit with a 5-0 of their own. Neither team could pull away for the remainder of the set, as Clark would eventually take a 24-23 lead following a Rachel Webb (Celina, Texas) kill. The teams played to ties of 24-24 and 25-25 before Wellesley rallied from a 26-25 deficit for three straight points, as sophomore Molly Weik (Seattle, Wash.) put down the final two kills to clinch the 28-26 win.

The Blue followed with another commanding win in the third set, putting down 14 kills on 22 attempts with just two errors to finish with a .455 attack percentage. Weik added two more kills and a block assists in the final game as she and Li dominated play at the net en route to a 25-15 final. 

Wellesley will hit the road for a big non-conference match at No. 4 Johnson & Wales on Thursday evening at 7:00 PM. Clark returns to action next Tuesday, October 9, at 6:00 PM at MIT.